After finishing speaking, Lin Wei stood beside the table as if he was thinking hard about something, as if there was something very important that he had forgotten. Suddenly, Lin Wei slapped his head hard and suddenly realized, "I remembered, Crawford!"
"Yes, leader! I've been listening!" Crawford said without blinking.
"Before we and the Soviet Red Army captured Poland, the Polish government had the best relationship with Romania!" Lin Wei said solemnly, "After we captured Warsaw, no large gold reserves were found in the Polish treasury. This is abnormal! Moreover, Poland’s only outlet to the sea at that time was the Danzig Corridor. If the Poles transferred gold to Britain by sea, it would be basically impossible! Then they would have only one option!”
"Romania!" Crawford added with a sneer.
"Not bad!" Lin Wei affirmed, "According to our pre-war intelligence, the total amount of gold is four hundred tons, even more than countries with colonies such as the Netherlands and Belgium. This gold must be in the hands of the Romanians, let us The ambassador to Romania informed General Antonescu to hand over the Polish gold! Minister Ribbentrop has already traveled to more than a dozen countries, so don’t bother him with this matter!" Lin Wei said sheepishly.
After waiting for a long time, Lin Wei was furious when he saw that Crawford was still where he was, "How many times have I told you, finish the matter at once, don't squeeze out toothpaste bit by bit." squeeze!"
"Leader, you can't blame me!" Crawford said with a sad look on his face, "Every time I go out after reporting, you always have new ideas and call me back! I can't stand doing this all the time. Ah, I’m just waiting for your reaction!”
"Oh, this is my problem!" Lin Wei apologized, "You can just go and do the gold thing I gave you now!"
Crawford said with a mean smile, "But I really have something to say this time!..."
Boom... Lin Wei kicked Crawford into the sofa and shouted, "You actually despise the leader's authority. I'll give you another chance. Say it quickly!" But at this time, Lin Wei felt really heavy. I was afraid that Crawford would say something important. As we all know, the German army was in great need of Romanian oil, and Germany also needed food and feed from this Balkan country. If the Red Army occupies Romania, Germany will lose these things. This is definitely not good news for Lin Wei. Germany is not yet fully prepared and it is not time to go to war with the Soviet Union.
Just when Lin Wei's face was uncertain, Crawford stood up again with a playful smile. Seeing Lin Wei's heavy face, he said, "Leader, this is not a problem with the Soviet Union. This matter is related to our allies." ?" Crawford clearly saw his leader's worries.
"Oh? Italian?" Lin Wei walked under his desk and took out a large ashtray. He picked out half a cigar from the ashtray, lit it as if there was no one around, and asked while puffing out smoke. .
In fact, after Crawford said that the problem was caused by the Italians, Lin Wei suppressed his heart hanging in his throat. Compared with the Soviet Union's reaction, even if the Italians had problems, they were completely responsible. With Germany under control, Lin Wei is no longer so worried.
But Crawford still said with rare seriousness, "Leader, although this matter is not as serious as the Soviet Union's attack on the Empire, it cannot be underestimated! It seems that this matter is still due to the imperial army's move into Romania. There was a ripple effect on the Italians’ actions!”
"Huh?" Lin Wei became more and more confused as he listened. He didn't know what Italy's conspiracy had to do with Germany. However, he still listened to his staff as he continued to talk. In Crawford's narration, Lin Wei's mouth It grows bigger and bigger. It turns out that according to the current SS intelligence, Italy has now concentrated nearly one million troops in Albania. The target is either Yugoslavia or Greece. In other words, because of Germany’s move to send troops into Romania, it stimulated Italy, Mussolini is now preparing to invade Yugoslavia or Greece, and this war will come soon.
"No, I want to meet with His Majesty, and I must stop Italy's crazy behavior!" Lin Wei took action. This matter is not as simple as it seems. Whether it is Romania, Yugoslavia or Greece, they are all in the Balkans. Since the collapse of Germany's common ally, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Balkans have never been controlled by pro-German forces. Moreover, the Balkans are the most turbulent regions in Europe. Since the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, no force has been able to suppress it. There are all kinds of conflicts. It can be said that this place is more dangerous than during World War I. If one party fails, several countries that dislike each other will become one.
Germany must suppress this very important area. If it is not done well, it will affect Germany's overall preparations for the Soviet Union. This will definitely delay Germany's war preparations and even have a more serious impact. If Italy can suppress this area instead of Germany, then Germany can naturally pretend that it has not seen anything and let go of its own war preparations. But does Italy have this ability? For the first time in Italian history, nearly a million troops attacked Greece, but the result was that they were almost overturned. If Germany hadn't helped Italy at the critical moment, the Greek army might have counterattacked into Italy. However, whether it was attacking Greece or Yugoslavia, Germany wasted precious time. Germany was still fighting in Yugoslavia until more than a month before attacking the Soviet Union, and then immediately launched the Barbarossa plan. In terms of time and the status of its soldiers, Interfering with the Balkan countries is an act that is not worth the gain.
Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Yugoslavia, and Greece, these countries have no hatred against Germany. The royal family of Romania and William II belong to the same family. Hungary and Bulgaria were allies of Germany in World War I. The King of Greece and William II were personal friends. Not bad. Even the fascist organizations in Yugoslavia had contacts with the National Socialist Party. But it is this kind of relationship that makes Germany constrained in dealing with the issues of the Balkan countries. It is precisely because each country has a good relationship with Germany that Germany is unable to intervene in the face of the complicated situations in these countries. It is in a powerful position. An embarrassing situation that cannot be avoided.
What made William II and many Wehrmacht generals even more angry was that the Soviet Union kept pushing the border westward and had no idea what convergence meant. Regarding the Balkan issue, it seems that several small countries are having conflicts. In fact, if one of them is not handled well, Germany and the Soviet Union will go to war immediately. It is unwise to do so when Germany is not ready yet.
All this time, whether it's Hit? Both Le and Linwei are happy to sacrifice the interests of other countries, but now, Germany has no other country to sacrifice. After annexing Czechoslovakia, Germany found Poland and Hungary to share the spoils with itself. With a blitzkrieg against Poland, Germany brought in the Soviet Union. Although Britain and France did not dare to act rashly, it also attracted a terrifying guy. The price Germany paid was far greater than imagined. Not only did it have to sit back and watch the three Baltic countries be annexed, but it also had to Watching Finland being invaded, I was unable to take action. And now that the Soviet Union has reached out to Romania, Germany's patience is coming to an end.
Relations between Berlin and Moscow have been deteriorating for months. It was one thing for the Soviet Union and Germany to work together to deceive third countries, but it was quite another when they began to deceive each other. Germany's disappointment at its failure to prevent the Soviets from seizing the Baltic states and two Romanian provinces, Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina, only fueled growing anger. The Russian advance to the west had to be checked, first of all in Romania. Romania's oil resources are extremely important to Germany. Although the British blockade has been broken by Germany, it is still impossible for Germany to import oil. The world's largest oil country is the United States, although it is impossible for the United States to attack Germany when its military is at its peak. It is time to go to war with Germany, but if the United States is allowed to sell oil to Germany, it is obviously impossible.
To further complicate matters, Hungary and Bulgaria also demanded a share of Romanian territory. In fact, towards the end of the summer of 1940, Hungary fought to regain Transylvania, which Romania had taken from Hungary after World War I. More and more people realized that such a war would cut Germany off from its main source of crude oil and would probably involve the Soviets and occupy all of Romania, depriving Germany of Romanian oil forever.
The situation is already complicated enough, and now adding Italy to the mix will only make the already very responsible situation even more complicated. Italy's current role is like a fool. Everyone in Europe knows that there are huge amounts of information buried there. Only Mussolini turned a blind eye to the explosives and was now preparing to light the powder keg himself. The end result can only be to blow yourself up.
An ally like Italy is really helpless. Could it be an undercover agent arranged by the allies in the Axis Powers? Specialized in setting traps to trap Germany, right? Lin Wei thought helplessly.
"Sanssouci Palace!" Lin Wei, who quickly put on his military uniform, boarded the car and ordered, with an anxious look on his face that even a fool could see. Robert C. Crawford, who was hurrying behind, shouted, "Leader, His Majesty is not at Sanssouci Palace now. Due to frequent meetings recently, His Majesty has returned to Berlin and should be at the High Command now!" "
Lin Wei turned to look at the commander and said, "Did you hear it too? Drive!"